TightValve is a young start-up that emerged out of the collaborative work between the ARTORG Center’s Cardiovascular Engineering Group (CVE) and the Inselspital’s Department of Cardiovascular Surgery. Their aim is to bring forward a novel device for measuring aortic valve leakage during reconstructive surgery which will allow the surgeon to recognize and fix leaky valves before the heart is restarted.
Last year, TightValve advanced through the first and second stage of the Venture Kick funding program, receiving CHF 10,000 and CHF 40,000 in funding.
As winners of the Stage 2 funding, the start-up became eligible for the InnoBooster grant of CHF 150,000, awarded by the Gebert Rüf Stiftung. TightValve is one of five recipients of the grant – a vital catalyst in their mission to bring their device to the OR.
The grant will support TightValve’s transition from a lab-proven concept to a clinical-ready device by financing improvements to device design and software and allowing the start-up to initiate the regulatory pathway towards medical product certification.
Adding to these successes, TightValve’s CEO Lukas Glaus is also a recipient of the University of Bern’s Innovation Office Venture Fellowship. The Innovation Office supports students, researchers and clinicians in translating ideas, research and inventions into innovations. With the UniBE Venture Fellowship, Lukas will be able to continue the underlying research of TightValve to validate the technical feasibility of their product and prepare the commercialization accordingly.
The ARTORG Center warmly congratulates TightValve for these incredible achievements and we are keeping our fingers crossed for a successful upcoming first-in-human proof of concept study.
